


A moment too late

by LilisBooks



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Angst, But is it really?, Feelings Realization, M/M, Post-Season/Series 03, Unrequited Love, no beta we die like kreese must at some point, ungraceful use of the word twink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29444937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilisBooks/pseuds/LilisBooks
Summary: Looks like Johnny has a boyfriend, and Daniel has some thoughts.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence, Johnny Lawrence/Original Male Character
Comments: 30
Kudos: 78





	1. No, no, no, no, no

**Author's Note:**

> You know? This was supposed to be a cute one little shot about Daniel being jealous of Johnny having a boyfriend, but then this came to life and took over me and this is the result. 
> 
> I think this is too angsty for Valentine's Day, but still... HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! 💕💕💕

Daniel was not a homophobe, mind you. Love is love and everyone is free to love whoever they want to love. Fuck everyone who said otherwise. However, having said that, it just didn’t feel right to him to see Johnny Lawrence making out with another man. For starters, it was rude to Daniel.

They had gone out to celebrate their first successful week at their united dojo. They had managed to work together without killing each other and start training the kids in both their offense and defense, all perfectly balanced. Johnny was surprisingly a great teacher once away from Cobra Kai and its teachings, and Daniel could finally understand why some of his students were ride or die for the man. He smiled at the memory of Johnny in front of the class, teaching, looking proud and with purpose. 

So, they had decided to have a night out, celebrating over a few drinks, enjoying their “honeymoon phase” - as Amanda had called it - while it lasted. Daniel wasn’t waiting for the other shoe to drop, because unlike it always happened with the two of them, this time they both had the same purpose: defeat Kreese and rescue Robby from him. United, Daniel was sure they could take on anything they set their minds too, as idealistic as it sounded. 

But seeing Johnny’s tongue inside that man’s throat was making Daniel’s fist clench in anger and rethink everything nice he had ever thought about the blond. Yeah, they were at a bar, on Valentine’s Day of all days, but that didn’t excuse Johnny from leaving him to make out with what looked like a twink. _Johnny surely has better taste than that,_ he thought sourly as he drank his martini. 

They had gone **together** to the bar, that meant something even if it was completely platonic. They were barely friends, sure, but if they were to be friends, Johnny **had** to know that the basic rules of friendship were bros before all. It was just decent to not leave your bro behind to get your tonsils checked by a stranger at a bar.

For fuck’s sake, the man had just gone to get them more drinks, but apparently In Johnny’s mind that twink was more important than beer. He wasn’t even that handsome! With his messy brown hair all over the place, those arms like noodles and his blue shirt in disarray from having Johnny shove him against the wall. It was borderline indecent what they were doing, yet Daniel couldn’t force himself to look away.

If anyone asked, he would say it was because he was hoping Johnny could feel his eyes and feel bad for leaving him alone, as it was insulting to Daniel that Johnny had forgotten him. They had gone to the bar for Johnny’s sake! If it were for Daniel, they would’ve gotten to the beach where they first met, trying to replace the bad memories with good ones instead. It seemed more poetic that way, anyway.

He missed Amanda, wishing not for the first time that karate wasn’t the deal breaker it was in their marriage. They still were friends, but seeing Johnny’s hand roam free over that twink’s body, Daniel felt wistful. Maybe he wouldn’t be as mad as he was if he was also getting lucky. But twinks were not his taste, to be honest, and actually no one at that bar was. What Daniel wanted was to be with Johnny, making the other man laugh. He always looked good when he laughed, like all the worries in the world just melted away and for a few seconds Daniel could see the kind of man John would’ve become without so much shit pulling him down.

Finally, finally, Johnny separated from the twink. But instead of shoving him away, Johnny Lawrence did something Daniel had never thought he’d be able to see. Johnny was tenderly touching the twink’s face, who was looking at Johnny with his eyes open and full of an emotion he had never seen anyone look at Johnny before. His stomach churned uncomfortably in his stomach, and he had to forcibly look away at the sight. 

Is not that Johnny didn’t deserve tenderness, because he did. If there was anyone in the world who deserved to be treasured and loved, was that man. Daniel didn’t know much, but he was sure it had been a long time since anyone had looked at Johnny like that, maybe not even Ali. But it just felt wrong seeing that twink look at Johnny like that.

Forcing himself to look at his beer, Daniel could feel Johnny making his way over. He could man up and say that he had watched his little display in the corner of the bar, but he could also play innocent. It wasn’t like Johnny had seen him. Taking a big gulp of his drink, he turned around to face Johnny, only to come face to face with a pair of big brown doe eyes, standing next to Johnny, like he belonged there.

“LaRusso,” Johnny said, calling his attention away from the twink, “I want you to meet my friend, Dante.”

“Friend?” Daniel asked, wincing at how his voice sounded. Like he could barely speak.

“Yeah,” Johnny said with a shrug as he sat down and pushed another martini Daniel’s way. Apparently, the man hadn’t forgotten his drink after all. 

“Nice to meet you,” the man said as he sat next to Johnny, too close to Daniel’s liking. “Johnny has told me many things about you.” 

“And he has said nothing to me about you,” Daniel said, not bothering to look at the man in the eye. He knew he was being petty, but if they were gonna pretend they were just friends after that particular show, well Daniel couldn’t care less if he was rude. “I didn’t know you had friends outside of the Cobras, Johnny.”

The other man winced, looking over Daniel’s shoulder wistfully.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, LaRusso,” Johnny said after a sigh.

And well, wasn’t that their whole deal? They thought the other was a simple man, a bully and a bullied, a black and white situation, when in reality both of them were a mixture of different shades of grey, neither entirely just one colour. With any other person, Daniel wouldn’t have wanted to try again and again, but even when they were 17 Johnny was just different than the rest. There was a pull between them, that since their reunion at the dealership just kept growing stronger. 

“You’re right Johnny,” Daniel said, “but I thought we were changing that.”

“That’s why he called me!” The twink intervened, breaking their moment and making Daniel growl. He had honestly forgotten the man was with them. “I can help you with this Kreese guy.”

“How?” Daniel asked, specticaly. He doubted the man had any idea who Kreese even was.

“By taking out what he cares the most,” the man said with a smirk, making his brown eyes shine mischievously. “Cobra Kai will be no more.”

Daniel turned to look at Johnny, who wasn’t looking at him. Instead, the man was looking at _Dante_ with something akin to tenderness, making Daniel’s heart clench inside his chest. Johnny wasn’t supposed to look at anyone else like that. That was the way he looked at Daniel and no one else.

“And you’re okay with that?” Daniel asked, whispering as if afraid to break the moment, “I know what Cobra Kai means to you.”

“Robby is more important to me,” Johnny said, taking his eyes away from the twink to focus on Daniel, “and if Dante is right, Robby will be away from Kreese for good.”

”Johnny…”

“I just want to know if we count with you, La… Daniel,” Johnny said, earnestly, looking at Daniel right in the eye. His eyes were so blue, Daniel finally understood what “drowning in someone’s eyes” truly meant. “Can we count on you?”

“Of course, John, always,” Daniel said with a whisper, afraid to look away from those bright cornflower eyes.

Johnny smiled softly at him before reclining once more in his seat. It was the smile he only gave Daniel, like at the All Valley Tournament after giving him the trophy. Daniel still remembered that moment, even after all those years. People were cheering him on, singing his name, carrying him like a winner, and then, right at the sidelines was Johnny, alone, looking at Daniel with a soft smile. It was one of Daniel’s favourite memories of that day.

“With your help, this will be easier,” the twink said, once again breaking him away from his thoughts. “We just need to make sure Kreese can never hurt a kid, ever again,” he added while looking at Johnny with concern. 

But it was when their hands touched that Daniel finally understood. This man did know about Kreese, what he had done to Johnny all those years ago, weeks ago. He looked at Johnny like he _knew_ him, even better than Daniel, and those lingering touches and soft smiles spoke volumes of years shared together hidden in the darkness. Dante was not some random twink, he was important to Johnny.

And that felt like a bucket of ice cold water, because at the same time Daniel realised something about him as well. He wanted to be the man who would move earth and sky to make sure Johnny’s nightmares ended, to make him laugh carefree and joyful on a Sunday afternoon when it was just the two of them watching a movie, to make him take his guard down and confide in him, to feel his hands in his body not caring who saw them because Johnny was his and he was Johnny’s. He wanted Johnny to look at him like he cared about Daniel the same way Daniel cared about him. 

But maybe he was too late, 34 years too late, with too much history and blood between them. He sighed, as he looked at the two men in front of him forgetting about the world, with a pang in his chest threatening to suffocate him. He took a sip of his martini, hoping the drink would ease his pain. 

Then Johnny looked at him, smiling, and he could finally breathe.


	2. never can say goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose violence and this got way out of hand

He said his goodbyes after a while, not feeling comfortable sharing more space and time with Johnny and his friend. Friend, the world still tasted a little ill fitting in his mouth. He knew that there was more to the story than what Johnny was saying in the first place, but he also knew that if he pushed, Johnny and him would come to blows and all the progress they had made with their dojo would come undone. And if they were gonna defeat Kreese, he needed to be sure Johnny and him were on good sides. 

He did his best to ignore his realisation. Sure, he had feelings for his ex bully, who was more than just a bully and by far the lesser evil of all the evils Daniel had faced in his life, no need for a mental breakdown or identity crisis at his age. And feelings aside, did he actually want something to happen between him and Johnny? He was freshly divorced, and he still missed Amanda, even if they hadn’t worked out like they wanted.

Besides, there was the dojo. Could they work together as co-Senseis and partners? They had worked so far for where they were, they couldn’t do anything to risk it. They were just getting started. The kids were counting on them to finally get their shit together and train them for the Tournament, to defeat Kreese and end this karate war once and for all.

But Daniel was no quitter, not by any shot. And if he really wanted to be with Johnny, he was sure they could make it work. Those few times when it seemed like they could be friends, right before something happened that fucked up things, was enough proof to Daniel that they could be great friends, maybe even more. Besides, 34 years of pent up tension and aggression was sure to make something out of this world for when things got hot and heavy between them…

He was reminded of the scene at the bar with _Dante_ and, in the privacy of his room, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to be Dante, with Johnny’s rough calloused hands roaming through his body, touching skin and lighting it on fire wherever it went. Would his mouth be just hot and wet enough to invite Daniel in and never let him go? Or would he kiss gradually, starting with just pecks here and there before slowly putting more heat into it until they didn’t know where one ended and the other one began? 

He started feeling frustrated and bothered, so he decided a cold shower would be for the best. Maybe it would clear his head enough for him to ignore whatever he was feeling and concentrate on what Dante had said about Kreese. How by removing Cobra Kai from the picture, you get rid of the old man and his need for blood. 

Maybe once everything was set and done, Dante would leave like he had before and Daniel could make his move. Show Johnny that they could be more than enemies, rivals, friends. That they were good for each other and could be the best of themselves by being together. 

He just needed to make a plan.

The next couple of days were a blur of training, planning, working and existing, leaving little to no time to spend with Johnny. He was unsure whether or not Dante was still in town, but was glad that whenever he saw the blond man of his dreams, Dante was nowhere in sight. Johnny never even mentioned him after that night.

They were becoming better and better at teaching as the days went by, with their styles intertwining and flowing seamlessly, balancing each other just like Mr Miyagi always said. Daniel looked around, at the students learning how to defend themselves, at Johnny being a great sensei and at them working together side by side and couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at it. Mr Miyagi would’ve been proud of them.

One night, a week before the Tournament, Daniel gathered the courage to invite Johnny to stay over for dinner. The other man only shrugged, always easy to accept free food from others. Or well, Carmen and him. As far as he knew Dante had never cooked for Johnny. 

As they made their way to the kitchen, Johnny leaned on the kitchen cupboard and crossed his arms over his chest, making his arms look even bigger by the flexion of the movement. He refocused his attention on the food, trying his hardest to make it the best Johnny had ever had.

“You’re making parmigiana?” Johnny asked after a while, once the smell of food became more prominent in the room. One thing he loved the most about being with Johnny is that his need to fill the silence with words quieted a bit at the presence of the other man. 

“You know about parmigiana?” Daniel asked, surprised, before wincing at the implication of those words. He knew Johnny was a bit sensible of being thought an uncultured imbecile, even if the man would never admit it. He never again wanted to make the man feel like that. 

However, Johnny didn’t get upset or insulted him like he had expected. He just rolled his eyes and puffed, playfully.

“You’re not the first Italian who’s cooked me dinner,” he answered as he grabbed the beer next to him and took a sip. “Dante loves doing his weird dishes whenever he’s in town.”

“Oh,” was all Daniel could manage as the thought of Johnny in a kitchen, being intimate with that twink was enough to twist a knife onto his chest. Guess some things weren’t sacred anymore. 

“Yeah, he even makes his fancy sauce that’s a ‘family recipe’,” Johnny said with a fond smile, the same one Daniel had seen that night at the bar directed at the other man. The knife inside his chest went deeper, and Daniel hid a wince. “It’s great.”

“Great,” Daniel mumbled, forcing himself to turn around, with the excuse of cutting vegetables for dinner. If his eyes were watering a little, he could always blame the onion and nothing more. “Perfect.”

“Yeah, his family is from Toscana, but he’s from Jersey,” Johnny said with a rueful smile, staring somewhere Daniel couldn’t see. “Little punk with a mouth too big for his own good. I met him during a road trip I made after we graduated high school. He was working as a waiter in a cafe I ended up in.”

Daniel couldn’t speak, he couldn’t move. Images of another life flashed through his eyes, of Johnny and him on the road, talking and falling in love during starry nights, open roads. The future was open and wide for the both of them. 

“I think I’m in love with him,” Johnny said, looking straight ahead as he took a sip of his beer. “He reminds me of better times.”

…

After that night, Daniel vowed to never again invite Johnny for dinner. Especially because the morning after, Dante was at the dojo right next to Johnny, his arm wrapped around his waist, the two of them in their little bubble.

Daniel forced himself to ignore the pain and heartbreak as he continued his way through the dojo. He had to focus on the Tournament, on winning and getting rid of Kreese, and then that was it. He could say goodbye to Johnny for good. 

Dante became a permanent addition to the dojo for the week leading to the fight, making Daniel’s heartbreak both easier and tougher to deal with. As Dante was genuinely a good guy, who managed to make Johnny laugh even on the toughest day, and had always a word of encouragement when the other man got too into his head. 

The day of the Tournament came and went in a whirlwind and before he knew it, they had won and Kreese had to leave the Valley for good. His chest felt lighter than it had in months and Daniel felt like he could finally breathe. Happiness and joy were the feelings that exude Eagle-Do Karate as they made their way through the parking lot to celebrate their victory. 

Daniel should’ve known that history has a way of repeating itself, with the way the last few years had been for him. He should’ve known Kreese would do the same he had done all those years ago in 1984 after the All-Valley in that same parking lot.

He should’ve known. He should’ve been aware.

A scream broke the celebratory reunion near his car, making him turn around to see Kreese holding Robby by the throat in what could only be described as a flashback the moment before the choking all those years ago. Even from where he was, Daniel could see that Kreese was not applying any strength onto the hold, yet. He turned to look at where Johnny had been just moments ago, only to find the space empty and the man in question pulling Robby away from Kreese.

Guess Johnny had remembered a little too well.

Daniel was glad Johnny had managed to get Robby away from Kreese before history could truly repeat itself, feeling a sense of pride at the sight of Johnny breaking Kreese’s arm, specifically the one that would’ve choke Robby. Daniel would’ve cheered.

But Johnny wasn’t the only one who remembered the past a little too well, as a gunshot echoed through the night, breaking Daniel’s heart's sense of relief. He turned frantically to look at their children, hoping they hadn’t been affected, only to feel his blood turn cold at the sound of a broken “Sensei!” coming from Miguel.

As if in slow motion, Daniel turned to see Johnny falling to the floor, hand on his abdomen and Silver in front of him. Kreese had his eyes wide open, mouth slack in shock. He didn’t know what happened, but next thing he knew, Silver was on the floor, unconscious, and Kreese was next to him, frozen in place.

“I’m gonna call for help!” Dante screamed as he made his way inside the arena, leaving Johnny and Daniel behind. Daniel wanted to scream at him to come back and be by Johnny’s side, but the selfish part of him was glad Dante had left.

It all came down to the two of them, like it always had and it always would be. 

He kneeled next to Johnny, zeroing his attention on him, carefully putting his head on his lap, slowly removing the wet hair that had fallen onto his eyes. Johnny didn’t appear to be frantic or scared. He was only staring at Daniel, with those bright blue eyes that had haunted Daniel for the past 34 years. 

Johnny was gripping tightly onto the wound, hand and gi covered in blood. Even with such a hunting image, Daniel couldn’t stop seeing just how beautiful Johnny was under the moonlight.

The sirens were closing in, Robby’s sobs still echoing through the night, Sam and Miguel screaming at the sight, but all Daniel could hear was Johnny’s breath slowing down by the second, eyes focused only on him, speaking a language Daniel had known how to speak since he was 17, but too scared to actually listen to it. There was blood also dripping from his mouth onto his chin, but as he stared at Johnny’s eyes slowly closing in, Daniel could only think ‘it’s too late’. No words came out of his mouth, not even when Johnny’s eyes closed and Daniel’s heart broke for the last time.

What would’ve been if he hadn’t been just a moment too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry


	3. Epilogue

It had been a couple of months since Johnny had passed, and Daniel still felt his absence like a fresh wound. Who knew an absence could feel so close and personal, with so much blood and history within the parties involved? For years Johnny had been nothing but a nuisance in the back of his head, what ifs and wonderings surrounding his golden locks, only to turn into an actual living person he could touch, he could fight, someone he could pour all his frustrations and anger onto. Only to later become his co-sensei, a friend and his biggest what could’ve been. 

He couldn’t continue teaching karate, as much as he had tried to do so. Every time he looked at his side, he would see Johnny, smiling at him or rolling his eyes if Daniel had said some “Miyagism” -what the man would call any sort of wisdom that left his mouth-, only to realise Johnny was gone and he was the only teacher in front of the students.

The kids were no better, not that he expected them to be. Miguel and Robby absolutely refused to even go to the dojo after the funeral, staying as far away from karate as they could. Sam and Aisha were no better, following right behind after the first class without Johnny felt too empty and too big all of the sudden. Without the other man it just wasn’t the same. On their part, Hawk and Demetri kept on going, but their heart wasn’t in it, not really. Daniel could relate to that. He was just going through the motions, and it wasn’t fair to anyone to keep going like he was.

However, it was Bert’s absence that Daniel felt more deeply in his heart. He had been quiet at the funeral, almost too quiet for Daniel to notice him at first. He had tried to talk to him, like he had to the other children, but Bert had bolted after seeing Johnny on the coffin, eyes closed and wearing a suit. Daniel hadn’t heard from him since then.

Putting the dojo into boxes was both easier and less painful than what he had expected in the first place. With all the kids away and only himself to keep him company, the memories of Johnny were a welcome balm to his pain. The emptiness and hollowness of his chest couldn’t become deeper, especially not by holding Johnny’s shirt in his hands. It was an old flannel shirt, from all the times the man left his clothes forgotten at the dojo after he went home for the night, preferring to stay in his gi.

As Daniel held it close to his chest, he felt a hard sharp object in its breast pocket, as if someone had forgotten a small device in it. He unfolded the shirt only to discover Johnny’s old phone tucked away in it. Daniel had bought it for him after they had started working together, refusing to indulge Johnny in his “no cellphone” attitude. It was an old smartphone, to start Johnny on his path towards the 21st century. The man had begrudgingly accepted it, only after Miguel and Sam both ganged up on him about his old ways. Daniel had never managed the courage to stop the payment on it, so the phone was still functional and active for use. 

Daniel indulged himself and went through it, smiling tearfully at the pictures of Miguel and Sam training, or Bert and Nathaniel on the balance wheel. Dimitri and Hawk fighting in the backyard. Robby throughout the years. Even Dante’s pictures managed to make him smile, as Johnny looked happy and alive on them. But it was the folder titled “Daniel” that managed to make the tears on his eyes spill. Daniel saw himself through Johnny’s lens, and even if some of the pictures were embarrassing like the one where he was drenched after their first attempt at the balance wheel, they also were a testament of the bond they had shared at the end of their time. 

However, Daniel’s journey didn’t end on his photos, as he noticed that on Johnny's voicemail, there was a draft the man had left in it the day of the Tournament. Looking around the place, as if afraid someone could see him, he pressed the button to play the message before he could stop himself.

“Hey Daniel, is Johnny,” the Johnny on the other side of the phone said, making Daniel’s heart race inside his chest. “I’m gonna be a little late to get you and the kids. Robby said he wanted to see me before the tournament and I can’t miss it. I’ve fucked up enough.”

Daniel felt his eyes welling up with tears, as a sob trapped itself in his throat, choking him. The message carried on, uncaring of Daniel’s inability of keeping it together.

“I… I never thanked you, for what you did for Robby all those months ago. Even if you fucked up at the end, you could never fuck up like I did. You were there for him like I hadn’t before and that… I can’t never thank you enough. Thank you for giving Robby a chance.”

The last Daniel knew of Robby, he was happy in college. Johnny had some money saved for him, and with Dante and Daniel’s help, Robby had managed to get accepted in a school nearby. He went by the name Lawrence, after his dad.

“I don’t deserve that kid,” voice message Johnny continued, “but I’m glad he had you in his life. I… I’m glad you’re in my life too, actually.” Daniel’s heart skipped a beat, and the world was on pause. “Fuck, I blamed you for so much shit for so long, for shit you never deserved. Starting with Ali back in ‘84. I was never good at letting go… But you never deserved it, and for that I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Shit, I know I should be saying this in person but fuck, talking to Robby made me all weird and shit. Dante says I should be “embracing my emotional self” or whatever, but fuck… I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. Just… I’m glad we’re friends now and that Robby is coming home.” 

“You’re alright LaRusso,” Johnny said, and Daniel somehow knew that he had been smiling when he had said so. It brought a smile to his face as well. “And maybe I am too.”

The message ended and Daniel was crying with a big smile on his face. The emptiness in his heart felt less hollow, lest never ending. He pressed the phone to his heart and closed his eyes, willing to keep Johnny with him just a little longer.

Maybe in another life, they would’ve been more than alright. Maybe, just maybe, they would’ve been at the right time, at the right place. Together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is the end folks, come yell at me at my [tumblr](https://wonderwolfballoon.tumblr.com/) if you like to cry with me over johnny and daniel


End file.
